Ball Playing Defender: 'The Casado Experiment' Part I #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

August 6, 2016

As discussed in my previous blog post, my Homegrown defenders lack the technical and mental ability to suit a passing game. As a five, their average Passing stat is 8.8 and Vision is 5.6. This isn't so much of a problem when coming up against weaker opposition, whereby the the transition is made easier from defence to midfield because my opponents are generally weaker at positioning and pressing. However, we struggled when coming up against the European Heavyweights such as Juventus and Man City. I need to experiment putting a passer in defence, someone with composure to keep hold of the most precision resource in football: the ball itself. Today's blog introduces my plans to implement this change, let's begin...

Introducing: Ronnielle Rodrigues de Moura ('Casado')

The player I've chosen to revolutionise Central Defence may mystify some, it's Brazilian 22 year old Regen midfielder 'Casado'. Signed for £9.5m from Clube Atlético Mineiro, Casado's standout attributes are Passing & Vision...something I want instilled at the back.

So what other strengths do I see?

Professionalism - As we are looking to retrain a player's position and completely overhaul his footballing role, we need to make sure he has the mentality to make this a success. As I have argued previously, Professionalism (a hidden attribute - other than the Personality descriptor) governs how hard a player trains. Casado's first few months at GCZ are going to be spent learning a new position and playing style. It's vital he can pull this off and luckily for me has the attitude to succeed.

Two footed - In real life, Ball players benefit from being two footed. It's no different in FM. Casado's Passing & Vision stats are enhanced by being two footed. More on why it's important here.

PPMs - Casado already has 'Dictates Tempo' and 'Likes To Switch Ball To Other Flank' as PPMs. It will be interesting to see how this displays in the match engine as PPMs enhance the frequency of how often a player does certain things. I have no doubt his strong Vision stat will complement these PPMs.

Attributes - Aside from being a stronger and creative passer, Casado complements this by being an Aggressive, Brave and Determined Leader. He also makes good Decisions, something vital for any Centre Back role.

The BPD stats overlay for your enjoyment

Training instructions on the day of arrival

What weaknesses do I see?

What I am proposing to do to Casado is radical. The transfer fee is my 5th highest in my 7 seasons at GCZ and to experiment with this kind of marquee player may seem absurd. There's also one major flaw in Casado's armoury: his Heading and Jumping Reach. Well done if you picked up on it straight away. Combined with Casado's height of 174cm (5 foot 7), he really isn't gong to do well against larger Strikers.

This is a flaw I cannot really correct with training. Both Heading and Jumping Reach can be improved (marginally), but I cannot make a 22 year old any taller. So my plan is to combine Casado with 1 or [maybe] 2 defensive partners. Luckily for him, my Homegrown talents are all around 186-190cm (6 footish) and have the necessary Strength (17 average value). I may also remind readers of the last defender to win the Ballon d'Or was also 1.7m, so there's hope:

FIFA World Player of the Year 2006 & World Cup winner: Fabio Cannavaro — FIFA World Player of the Year 2006 & World Cup winner: Fabio Cannavaro

It will be good to hear the opinions of the FM Community, am I Mad? Brave? Stupid? All three? Only time will tell if it pays off. Check back here for updates throughout Season 8 , 9 and 10 in my save to see how Casado is getting on. I plan to do a lot of work in the pre-season of Season 8 to view Casado in the match engine and how he behaviours with the AI and also with his defensive partners.

As always, thanks for reading.

FMG

The Homegrown XI: Season 7 update #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 29, 2016

One of the attractions of managing in a smaller European nation, such as Switzerland, is the Winter Break - a 60 day pause between competitive fixtures during the months of December, January and February. It's a chance to reflect on the previous few months and look ahead to the defining months of the season which are still to come. Each year I have used the Winter Break to reflect on the development of my youngsters and also look ahead and project their game time/experiences for the year ahead. Today's blog is me sharing this process with you as I enter the Winter Break in Season 7 (2021/22)...

The Homegrown XI

During my 5th Season at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) it was clear that I needed to form an 'end game' to my save. I had half a decade of domestic trophies already won and I knew that I needed to inject life into the save to keep my motivated. I therefore outlined a 5 Year Plan here. This GCZ save game is my only one for FM16 and I am currently taking one month per season. I therefore should reach the finale of Season 10 somewhere around mid-late October - finishing nicely with the planned release of FM17 (normally around November).

So the aim is to: develop a successful Homegrown* XI competing for Continental honours

*A quick catch up on what I define as Homegrown (and the meaning behind the abbreviations of HG and HGN further on):

Homegrown (HG): A homegrown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ), continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21)

Homegrown in Nation (HGN): also known as an 'association-trained’ player. This player fulfils the same criteria as above but with another club in the same association/nation.

Ever since Day 1 of my GCZ save, I have dedicated my time to youth recruitment and development. Outlined here back in Nov 2015, as I spoke about Professionalism being the most important influence on a player's development. Merry Guido over at Strikerless.com has pushed the discussion on even further by demonstrating this in various player projections. His conclusion: Professionalism is indeed the driving force behind development - as shown here.

Back at GCZ, we are now awash with a Professional staff structure (both playing and non-playing)...which has let to some potentially gifted Regens join us in the yearly Youth Intakes:

Some of which have already been introduced within the outlines of the 5 Year Plan. Now we'll move on to analysing my youth players to see how they've done in 1.5 seasons (30% of the Homegrown XI project)...

Tactics

During Season 7 (2021/22), results have been mixed. As shown in last week's blog. One of the reasons for this was my move from a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 to trial a 5-3-2 (with Wingbacks). The reason for this was to accommodate Homegrown talents in the 1st team matches. To cut a long story short, the trial of the 5-3-2 was a failure. But in being a failure, it highlighted several paths that my future line ups need to go down and also what ones to avoid.

To illustrate the point, it's best we start discussing the development of the Central Defenders...

Central Defenders

I currently have 5 HG Central Defenders on the books at GCZ, this includes Dayot Upamecano who trained for 36 months with GCZ before his 21st birthday (thus gaining the HG status). From youngest to oldest we have:

Sandro Bianco (19 years of age)

Gérard Zwicky (20 years of age)

Devin Manco (22 years of age)

Dayot Upamecano (23 years of age)

Noah Loosli (24 years of age)

Evaluation: you can see that I have not done much with these 5 defenders. First and foremost, I like my Central Defenders to defend. We can also see that they are very average with the ball at their feet. As a five, their average Passing stat is 8.8 and Vision is 5.6. This was the fundamental reason why the 5-3-2 discussed earlier did not work. Too much emphasis is placed on the CBs to move the ball and start moves with this formation...these lads were awful at it. Despite not being ball players, all five will make competent CBs in the Swiss League. Only time will tell if they can step up and cope on the Continental scene.

To do:

Continue rotating these CBs but consider selling the weakest if we continue with a 2 Central Defender formation in the future.
Tactically, focus on limiting time spent on the ball during games.

Central Midfielders

The limitations of the Central Defenders discussed above is negated with the fine ball playing trio of midfielders I have within my ranks. It gives me hope that I can use Deep Lying Playmakers and Registas in the future, to ensure I control ball possession - despite my weak footballers at the back. Let's take a look at the GCZ engine room of the future (again youngest to oldest):

Lukas Oswald (17 years of age)

Season 7 (2021) *Lukas joined as part of the 2019/20 youth intake*

Nuno Gouveia (19 years of age)

Nedim Bajrami (22 years of age)

Evaluation: We can see that the trio above are good passers with great vision. I have doubts that Nedim Bajrami will make further gains, but he is still a capable Central Midfielder who suits the mobile game. The younger two, Nuno and Lukas have amazing potential. I see Nuno's career trajectory as being a: Box to Box, before moving on to become a gifted playmaker (either advanced or deeper in midfield). Lukas on the other hand could be a sensible option as a Deep Lying Playmaker or Regista.

To do:

Ensure all three are given sufficient game time in the First Team from now on.
Aim to make Lukas more Professional and add some useful PPMs to his game (also work on his poor stamina).
Find a combination where all three work together in pre-season of Season 8 (2022/23).

Attackers/Strikers

I have a number of GCZ youngsters in the U18 that I believe can make it, given the opportunities. However there are three notable talents that I have no doubt will make a big impact on the game. Here they are (youngest first):

Stephan Hotz (18 years of age)

Mario Orlowski (22 years of age)

Season 7 (2021) *Mario is a new signing from Basel's youth system*

Remo Mahrer (22 years of age)

Evaluation: What I quite like with my current 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 is the ease I can drop a Central Midfielder, in favour for another Central Attack. I have been doing this often with Remo Mahrer, who in the last year has been used as a Support Striker. He's now added goals to his performance and as we enter the Winter Break of Season 7...he has 9 goals in 17 appearances. Remo needs no introduction, as I have a whole blog series about him (and another fabulous Regen who can't be named at the moment as I still mourn for his loss).

There's potential in a Support Striker and Target Man relationship brewing at GCZ and the youngest of our three strikers, Stephan Hotz, has really matured in two years. He is raw but with the right training I think we can make a decent TM out of him (as long as I ignore his poor bravery/jumping attribute that really bugs me).

Lastly, Mario Orlowski is a £1m signing from Basel's youth system. He's had decent First Team experience on loan in the Swiss Super League (with Vaduz & Luzern) and also in the Bundesliga (with Freiberg). He already has a good Personality and also some lovely Mentals like Off The Ball & Composure...all combined with excellent Finishing (and a Reasonable Weaker Foot)! You need match winners in this position...and I think I have three.

To do:

Working on Hotz's humping reach and consider tinkering tactics to adjust to his strenghts. Also look at the movement off the ball between Hotz and Mahrer as a TM and SS combo.
Add some PPMs to Mario Orlowski's game, incl. a Finishing PPM
Improve Mahrer's Passing to 15 or above

Other Homegrowns

I have already introduced 10 HG talents who I think may make it BIG at GCZ (and the inclusion of Mario Orlowski who is a HGN: Homegrown in Nation). I also have an abundance of squad players who can hopefully make the grade here + a few elder statesmen who are either HG/HGN + already established in the First Team (e.g. £13.5m singing Roman Bürki). So accommodating as many HGs/HGNs as possible in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 we look like this:

If either of the above two line-ups are successful, then we'd be achieving 8 HGs and 9 HGs (with the option of filling the RB and LW slot with World Class ability). This trumps both the Champions League Winners of Ajax of 1995 and Barcelona of 2011 (as discussed here) Homegrown achievements.

Now let's finish Season 7 and see if we really can hit the dizzy heights of European fame...

Thanks for reading.

FMG

Regista: Directing the Flow #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 22, 2016

The brilliant Deep Lying Podcast last week covered a topic which is not always easy to talk about: FM Slumps and Fails. Today I'll share my current predicament, and the solution I plan to remedy the current slump...

My 'FM Slump'

29 September 2021 saw Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) crumble to their biggest ever Champions League defeat to Man City (5-1). I was reeling from the result. Despite having the ball for large amounts of the game in a 4-2-3-1, we simply didn't create enough meaningful chances. Unfortunately this performance and result was waiting to happen. I had been carelessly re-adjusting tactics and formations to suit the Homegrown talents coming through (which I will cover in a separate blog post soon). There's a plethora of knock on effects of doing this, but in simple terms...I and GCZ had lost our way. Form was erratic and performances had lost their zip:

If the 5-1 hammering wasn't enough indication that something was broke, then a drab performance and loss at home to St Gallen really slapped me in the face. I needed to get back to basics and fix this quickly.

A lot of the ball but nothing to talk about

I immediately went back to a tried and trusted 4-3-3, but I knew the problems in the team are more deep rooted than this. In a lot of the games (excluding Man City) we had a lot of the ball. We were controlling the flow, but not directing it. The defence wasn't the problem and probably not the Attackers either, as we were simply not creating enough Clear Cut Chances in matches. As highlighted by the infamous Swiss Cup 2nd Round exit against Lausanne, where only 3 Clear Cut Chances were created in 120 minutes/40 shots.

Therefore, I needed to revisit the Playmaking role in the team, normally occupied by £24.5m signing Julian Weigl. Now I admit, I have become a bit obsessed with viewing the performance stats of my players. In doing so I've unintentionally become misguided/lazy in what I want from the stats FM offers. An example of this is when I accepted the fact that Julian Weigl completed 54 of his 64 passes in a 0-0 home draw with Dynamo Kiev, without looking into what kind of passes these were and where they went. FM is a game that keeps us on our toes, when we get lazy (like I did) it can come back to bite you.

Julian Weigl against Dymano Kiev (0-0), a good night's job from my playmaker?

Directing the Flow

Looking into Julian Weigl's passes in detail showed that the Deep Lying Playmaker (DLP) role on Support was resulting in many short insignificant passes generally to the left hand side of the pitch. I was effectively restraining this guy's playmaking abilities and restricting his influence on the team. I probably never really noticed last season because of the amount of match winners like Iuri Medeiros (now sold to Man Utd) and Moussa Konaté (out of form) I had in the team. Note - this is not a critque of the DLP role. On the contrary, the DLP has been a great role for me especially in my first few years at GC with Kim Källström. When the tactics suit it can be effective, but things change...

I have therefore taken the decision to deploy Operation Reigsta and use Weigl as a DM Regista. So what's the difference between a DLP and a Regista? Well after lots of comparing/contrasting in the FM16 match engine, I conclude that the Regista presses higher, is given a license to roam more freely and passes longer. The technical and physical attributes required for both roles are the same, but the Mental requirements for Regista are greater. Our Regista benefits from being more aggressive, a good anticipator and intelligent off the ball.

On the whole, Julian Weigl is a great Regista — On the whole, Julian Weigl is a great Regista

And what of the change in Weigl's performance since the role/position change? Well fast forward 3 weeks from that awful night away at Man City and we find ourselves beating FC Porto 5-0 at home. GCZ's biggest ever Champions League win. If we look deeper into what has changed, we see a Playmaker with the freedom to be where he wants AND with the creative freedom to 'direct the flow'.

In the 5-0 thrashing, Weigl was MOTM. With a Player Rating of 9.0, and a Goal to boast about, he was simply a pleasure to watch. Instead of the 54 completed passes 'for passes sake' (like in the Kiev game), Weigl only completed 39 passes. But let's look at what kind of passes they were:

LEFT: Julian Weigl as the DLP (Support) against Kiev. RIGHT: Julian Weigl as THE Regista against Porto — LEFT: Julian Weigl as the DLP (Support) against Kiev. RIGHT: Julian Weigl as THE Regista against Porto

It's obvious that the Regista passes are longer and more penetrative (RIGHT) compared to Weigl in his DLP role (LEFT). Combined with a Box To Box midfielder and two Wingers on Attack duty, Weigl was able to direct the flow of the Porto game. He also had help with a CM on defend to protect him when needed.

Conclusions

It's early days, but I look back at that Porto game and the decision to change Weigl's role in the team as a defining moment in Season 7 (2021/22). You will have to wait and see in a future blog post about whether we conclusively corrected this dip in form. But early signs are good.

As always thank you for reading.

FMG

Hugging & Inverting: The Juxtaposition of Width #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 8, 2016

During the last 6 [in game] years at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) I have tweaked a variety of tactical aspects of my formation and player/team attributes. None more so than the use of width in my teams and it's something I have been meaning to blog about for a while. Today I will try to discuss my transition from using an Inverted Inside Forward in 2015 to a more traditional Winger in 2021.

Now I am probably going against the latest cycle in football. Managers are now playing Wingers on the 'wrong' side judging by the foot preference: referenced in today's blog as Inverted Inside Forwards (IIFs). This implication of this is an expectancy on the modern day Fullback to get forward and provide the width that a more traditional Winger once gave. The clear benefit of this is that Fullbacks generally play on their stronger side, so the space created by an IIF roaming inside onto their stronger foot means that you can effectively add your Fullback to your attacking arsenal. Think of the way Messi and Alves linked up in Barcelona. However, football is cyclical in nature and I like to think I am ahead of the curve in FM16 by bringing back the line hugging Wingers of old*.

*To clarify, 'Wingers of old' is in reference to the Wingers of 20 years ago e.g. the 1990s Ryan Giggs. Wingers who generally played in a 4-4-2, who offered width and invention out wide. Real 100% attacking Wingers died in the 1930s during the death of the 3-2-5 formations. Another story to be told by more learned men. Unfortunately not by me, I simply wouldn't do it justice.

Meet 'the inverted'

I started my GCZ save on November 13th 2015, the day Football Manager 2016 came out, thus using the Day 1 Database. Due to a slight oversight in the data, Yoric Ravet had been given a 20/20 left foot and weak right foot...when in fact it should be the reverse. (This has since been corrected by the Swiss Researcher: @aulit_z, who does a great job keeping on top of things). Nevertheless, I was faced with a challenge...help Yoric Ravet with his inverted affliction and simply make it work. In addition to this, the finances at the time were tight at GCZ and I had other areas to 'fix'.

So here are Yoric's attributes, positional data and his performance in the 2015/16 year as an IIF:

Straight away we can see that Yoric actually fits the IIF mould quite well, he has good ratings in the primary IF attributes:

Dribbling - 13, Finishing - 12, Passing - 14, Technique - 14
Decisions - 13, Off The Ball - 13
Acceleration - 15

He also complements the secondary aspects of an IIF well: First Touch, Long Shots, Composure, Flair, Vision and Pace. It's for this reason back in November that I believed I could make it work, so I tailored the team around Ravet in an asymmetrical formation...

...and asked him to do this (with tweaking throughout the season here and there):

We can see an example of how it pans out in two scenarios below:

Example 1: GCZ vs Thun '6 mins

Red/Pass, Pink/The IIF movement, Yellow/ expected Winger movement

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The chance shown above against Thun wasn't a goal, but it highlighted the build up play Ravet provided. His directness was a key feature throughout the season, but this game (a 2-0 win) in particular highlighted his threat: no crosses and no real width in the team, but good movement and a goal to brag about:

Example 2: Thun Vs GCZ '93 mins

Another example of what the IIFs can bring to your team was briefly mentioned in my intro: adding Fullbacks to your attacking arsenal. Below is movement in the Thun reverse fixture, where GCZ won 2-1. You can see that Benjamin Lüthi (at the time playing as a Wing Back) took advantage of Yoric Ravet causing a nuisance of himself by dropping inside and getting a feel for the ball. Lüthi has the chance for a crossing opportunity, but pulls this back to Ravet...

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You can also see above that Ravet is comfortable on the ball, his first touch and vision allows him to pick out 18 year old Harun Alpsoy before making his run into the penalty area. Sadly for him Alpsoy had a poor first touch, which led to the move breaking down. This all occurring in the 93rd minute, which is a trademark of my GCZ teams...controlling games for as much of the 90 mins as possible.

Again, Yoric Ravet gets a goal. However, this time he does get a solitary cross in, but you can see his activity is generally narrow meaning his crosses are in fact passes (4 of which are Key). So if you've read this far, you're probably wondering why on earth I changed the IIF formula and adopted a wider approach with Wingers. There's many reasons to tell the truth, but to name a few:

Yoric Ravet was my only IIF. So when he wasn't playing I needed to change the whole team dynamic.
The asymmetrical 4-3-2-1 system was unbalanced. I was exposed by other wide teams who could attack my fullbacks.
Munas Dabbur (my Central Striker who Ravet often relied on for support) was sold in the Summer of 2016. So I needed to rejig the attacking output in the team, with Shani Tarashaj going in as striker. Shani was more of a drifter and not static enough for Ravet to be effective in the IIF role.
I do like Wing Play. I used to be a Winger, albeit in Sunday League. I love understanding the play and stretching the opposition by staying wide and choosing when to gamble. I probably had the ball at my feet for about 1% of the actual game...but it never stopped me thinking about the positional aspect during those 90 mins and the duel I had with the opposing Full Back.

So what happened to Yoric Ravet? Well after excelling as my IIF in Season 1, he was brutally used as a Winger for seasons to come (and rarely an IIF again). You can see his output decline massively, and by 2020 he was in Serie C. His 'database affliction' came back to haunt him as a left footed right Winger simply doesn't work.

Meet 'the huggers'

There's been a number of Wingers since Yoric Ravet at GCZ, both left sided and right. But to keep this blog post concise, let's focus on two of the most recent: 25 year old right Winger Adama Traoré & 21 year old Regen left Winger Víctor Silva (both below):

Víctor Silva_ History Career Stats-2.png

Both Traoré & Silva have amazing Winger stats. Their essential attributes in Crossing, & Technique attributes are complemented with raw power in Acceleration & Pace. They also both 'Hug the Line', which is important to how they suit my Player/Team Instructions. In addition to this, they also are not inverted...I can essentially stretch the play and ask them to stick wide either in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1.

Let's now take a look at the destruction they get up to, Traoré & Silva get one example each...

Example 1: Traoré Vs St. Gallen '79 mins

We can see below Traoré holding his position and thus stretching the play, before using his Dribbling and Acceleration to beat his opponent. The chance created is a successful cross and forced a good save from the keeper (saving Zivkovic's shot). There's no need for a Full Back overlap here...Traoré can beat his man alone time and time again.

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Traoré's positional & movement against St Gallen is in stark contrast to Ravet's discussed previously. Not only is Traoré out wide, he is ridiculously advanced (mainly because he has a defensively minded Full Back behind him). He is crossing (20 attempts) and dribbling (6 made). We also have 8 Key Passes and a goal...

Example 2: Silva Vs St. Gallen '5 seconds!

Now we turn to Silva on the other wing. This is Víctor Silva's 1st start in a GCZ shirt, and after 5 seconds I knew I had acquired a special talent. Firstly he picks up the ball from Central Defender Noah Loosli. His PPM of 'Hugs Line' means he isn't adverse to staying out wide and beating his man 1:1. You can see from screenshots 2, 3 & 4 he has twisted the blood of fullback Martin Angha, a defender 6 years wiser. Once again, given the decision to cut inside like an IIF or go wide, Silva has gone wide and delivers a well weighted cross to Zivkovic. The chance leads to a good save from the St Gallen keeper but it offers hope that the GCZ Wingplay of 2020/21 will be something to remember...

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Despite Silva's performance dropping as the game went on, he showed his class with 6 Key Passes and a goal. Like Traoré, he has stretched the game by being out wide:

Conclusions

It would be hard to decide on a winner between the IIF and Winger. They both have served me well at different points in my GCZ career. Only you guys know what's best for YOUR team, but before you leave, here are five things I evaluate when deciding on what wing play to use (again feel free to share your opinions):

Firstly evaluate your squad, do you have an abundance of a certain type, a nice balance OR an unbalanced shape?
Evaluate the minuscule details of your Wingers. As much as you can: their attributes, the strength of their feet, their PPMs etc.
Evaluate the players around your wingers: the Fullbacks/Wingbacks, the Strikers etc. I'm a great believer in combinations, so by having an attacking Wing Back might sway you into wanting to try an IIF
Does your Team Instructions suit a particular type of Winger? Think about how you want to play and how width might help with that.
Make it fun. Try something different and experiment in the match engine, you might like it!

I hope you have enjoyed today's blog, as always, thanks for taking the time to read.

FMG

Player Search: finding talent & value in FM #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 2, 2016

A few followers on Twitter have asked me what I search when signing a player in FM16. In truthfulness the criteria for signing a player differs in each transfer deal I've made. This is primarily due to reputation and resources being different year on year. I've been on an upward curve within my FM16 save at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) and each year has bought about an increased financial capital. I am also [rather unintentionally] becoming increasingly nitpicky on transfer deals. Today's blog outlines my current criteria, as I approach the start of Season 7 (2021/22).

The search

Match Engine:

The hardest part of any transfer deal is finding the right target(s). Real life clubs have a variety of methods, notably 'old school' techniques like scouts watching targets in games but also online viewing via scouting tools like Scout7. In FM, it is not too dissimilar, we can watch games at various speeds with various viewing options within the match engine. It's effectively our tickets into the stadia and any seat in that stadium. I try to watch signings in the match engine to see how they perform based on AI instructions. Sometimes I do not learn a lot but on other occasions I can get something out of it. For example:

How useful a player is in a particular role/position
How they compete in the 1:1 battle with players. i.e. how do they compete with quickness/strength of the opposition etc
How do they move outside of possession. Important imo, as most of the game is played when said player does not have the ball

For those unaware, it's simply a case of clicking on the 'V' during the fixture list screen. Note - you can (quite rightly) only be at one place at any one time...so only one match can be viewed per day.

Player Search:

Another method is the Player Search Function. If I was to quantify my time in FM, I'd say that I probably spend about 75% of my playing time in the Player Search Function. A 4 hour stint in the weekday evenings, could be spent solely ploughing through the thousand of search results on this screen. It's probably one of the reasons why I am on Season 7 whereas other FMers like Guido Merry are 20 years plus into the future. There's no right/wrong way to play FM, and that's the beauty of it.

So, the search screen can yield thousands of possible player searches. I can't even begin to quantify actually how many, but here are my frequent 5 for finding talent and value:

(1) Finding value I: contract expiry + squad status

This is a much cherished search. Especially in the early days of my GCZ save, where transfer and wage budgets were ridiculously tight. I find that contract expiry is the single most important influence on dictating the ease of an AI club selling a player. So the search is something like:

The above search shows those players that are not considered first teamers at their clubs and who expire within a year. I guarantee you that those AI clubs will sell those players listed at either market value or below. This is how I've found value.

(2) Finding value II: value Vs minimum fee release clauses

Anther way to maintain value when holding a bigger budget is to search by Minimum Fee Release Clauses and sort by value. Below I have left Value unfiltered and can see some BIG buys, which I would consider full of value. Check out 25 year old Matheus Pereira, who is valued extremely close to his minimum fee release clause...bargain!

(3) Hardworking Youth: Professional + age

As I argue time and again, hard work beats talent. Professionalism therefore is the holy grail Personality trait that you should install at your club. Now this search can swing both ways, you might want an older statesman to come in and tutor your youth. But another solution is to work with upcoming youth who are already willing to work hard in training. I like this search, particularly when viewing players' mental attributes. We can see some real gems below, who I know I can develop with relative ease:

(4) Two footedness: right foot + left foot

Readers may also know that I am a a huge fan of two footed players (as argued here), both in game AND in real life. It's makes such a difference and it does translate into FM's match engine (even though some dispute this). If I am going to include a niche search in today's blog, well here it is:

I've sorted by 'First Touch' here in the Technical attributes. These players will generally be proficient with the ball and you should make use of this in the Player/Team instructions.

(5) Attributes

Searching by attributes is very important in my searches, however there is no one search I frequently do. It all depends on what I am looking for based on: age, position, role etc. However, there are some universal attributes that I rate:

I wouldn't necessarily search all 4 together, and I wouldn't normally have 15 or above as criteria. However these are important 'universal' attributes. (Positional focused searches give priority to other attributes such as Finishing for a Striker and Marking for a defender). So why these 4:

Natural Fitness - FM's most important and underrated attribute? I think so, it could be the reason why your £30m signing makes only 15 appearances a season at 95% fitness or above.

First Touch - How often do we see moves fall apart in the match engine because a player has a poor first touch? There's a reason why First Touch improves in real life as you move up the football pyramid. It's the first sign of a good player and a demonstration of his or hers hard work and learning.

Determination - I want my players to dig deep when needed in a game. I want them to be like their manager, driven in pursuit for silverware. In terms of younger players at tutoring age, I am not fussed with this attribute...as I know I can increase it overtime with tutoring.

Work Rate - I want my players to work for the whole 90 minutes. The intensity in theory should be the same in minute 1 as it is in minute 90. There are player roles where this attribute isn't vital (Enganche for example). But my fluid controlling style at GCZ requires higher than normal work rate.

The Disclaimer

The usefulness of all of the above is dictated by how good your Scouting Network is. It's why sometimes the AI finds that gem Regen from Tibet, whereas your search did not show him. The player search yields those players within your 'sphere of knowledge'. Below is my world knowledge in 2021:

Make no mistake, 21% knowledge of the world is poor...especially after 6 full seasons. My GCZ save isn't about finding those regens, it's about developing homegrowns. In addition there are ways to find those players outside of the Player Search, which is probably another blog in itself.

It would be interesting to hear about your searches and also how far into the World Knowledge you've 'completed'. It's certainly something I want to consider 100%ing in a future FM save. As always, thank you for reading.

FMG